Glenn Roeder leant against the wall of a dimly-lit corridor on a freezing cold December night at Kingston Park and paused briefly for a moment of reflection.

Newcastle United juniors had just beaten Stoke City on penalties in the FA Youth Cup and a fresh-faced 17-year-old Dutchman called Tim Krul had just saved two penalties in a shootout AND scored what turned out to be the winner in front of just a few hundred people.

Roeder said then: “He will have more nights like this you know.

“He is so confident in those situations.”

Nicknamed Baker Hands in his native Hague in Holland, this was a significant step in Krul’s career NINE years before his heroics in the World Cup finals in Brazil to net his country a place in the semi-finals of the greatest show on earth in front of a crowd of 51,179 and with the whole world watching on television.

While TV pundits questioned the logic in throwing Krul in at the deep end against Costa Rica, those who know him best will have recalled his exploits as a kid between the posts for the Magpies Academy side.

So will the 488 hardy souls who watched on in freezing conditions at Kingston Park.

True, he may have saved twice from 20 penalties at senior level.

Yet sometimes it is nights in the reserves and youth team which can help shape a player’s future.

Let’s go back to the end of 120 minutes of that third-round tie on Tyneside in 2005.

By that time the hot drink stall’s staff had long since called it a night as Roeder paced around the centre circle looking for volunteers.

Krul had already put his hand up and asked to take one of the first five but Roeder opted for a certain Andy Carroll, Michael Terrell, Mark Doninger, James Troisi and Lewis Marr.

The Dutch youngster had already saved one from Stoke’s James Curley but Terrell’s miss had left the scores at 4-4 going into sudden death.

Spot-kick successes from Dean Critchlow, Rob Cavener and Nicky Deverdics had been matched by Stoke and, with the scores locked at 7-7, Roeder gave Krul the nod to take a kick.

Staggered by sight of a goalkeeper, the Stoke shotstopper could do nothing to stop Krul blasting home.

The United star celebrated, then quickly made his way back between the sticks before saving from Jarred Stevens to send the young Magpies team into the next round.

Roeder said that night: “Tim was confident, in fact he said to me beforehand when we practised penalties in training he would be happy to take one if any of the first five decided they did not want to step up.

“Tim plays in small-sided games in training and does not look out of place as an outfield player but he is a typical young Dutch player, full of confidence.

“It gives his defence confidence, too, and when you feel confident in your goalkeeper it spreads around the defence and the rest of the team.“

However, it did not end there for Krul – and weeks later, with United still in the competition, his strength of character showed again.

By this time Roeder had been elavated to the post of caretaker manager in the first team and watched on from the stands with Kenny Wharton in charge of the Under-18s.

Tim Krul (Image: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)

On another bitter night – this time at St James’ Park – Krul was the hero again in a shoot-out.

The Dutch ace had picked up a thigh injury but refused to come off.

Wharton reflected: “Tim had a thigh strain he picked up in the second half and he was hobbling a bit.

“I was concerned if the ball came back to him and he had to kick it might go, but he stayed on.

“After the extra time had finished, I read out the first five penalty takers and Tim said he wanted to be the sixth!

“He was ready to take a penalty if needed.”

In bizarre circumstances, Wharton toyed with throwing a young Fraser Forster on to the field that night.

He added: “I was not going to use all of our substitutes in case Tim got injured.

“We had a young goalkeeper in Fraser Forster on the bench who was 6ft 7in.

“I was going to throw him on as an outfield player to then put in goal if Tim’s thigh went.”

Krul’s gritty determination, though, meant he played on and was the shoot-out hero again, this time keeping out Brighton’s Tommy Fraser and Scott Chamberlain before putting off Sam Gargan, who smacked his effort off the woodwork.

United went on to the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup but there were bigger things to come from Krul.

Not least his Toon debut in Palermo when he pulled off save after save at the raw age of just 18 to write his name into United’s European history books. Krul often jokes at the end of interviews with the Chronicle if there will be any more questions “about Palermo” after being asked so many times.

Yet it is a night nobody will ever forget at Newcastle.

Roeder – who also gave the Dutchman his first team debut – once told me: “I always thought Tim was capable of doing what he did in Palermo.

“Even though he was just 18 he was very mature.

“Spend time and talk to him and you would think he was older. He has a strong character and is very confident.”